Though both In The Night Garden and Omelas are fairy tales, there are several stylistic differences among them.
First, In The Night Garden has a complex plot that intertwines several story arcs into one. Omelas on the other hand is plotless. The story could be considered more accurately as a vignette, albeit a long one. A vignette is "a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives a trenchant impression about a character, an idea, or a setting and sometimes an object" (I got that definition from wikipedia; don't judge me). It can be argued that this piece is a vignette of the setting of the land of Omelas. A related point is that Omelas lacks any specific characters. All characters in the story are known by their station in the society.
One thing I noticed is that this short story very obviously has a moral theme, but it is embedded and must be deciphered by the reader. In the Night Garden on the other hand does not directly give the impression that it has a moral, but its themes are much more easy to decipher. I'll put it a different way. ITNG addresses themes such as sexism and classism, but doesn't make it obvious that themes are being addressed. In Omelas it is very hard to figure out what the meaning is, but it's obvious that there is something larger being addressed.
Another thing I noticed is that ITNG has a very varied geography; the story moves throughout radically different lands and cultures. Omelas on the other hand has a stationary setting. The story remains in the land of Omelas and the climate and culture is generally homogenous.
Though both fairy tales, these two stories are written very differently.
Dear Stephen, what is the meaning of The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas?
ReplyDeleteI feel as though the theme in The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas is actually quite obvious. It was told in quite a flowery form but I believe that at the end of the story, (or vignette, I do agree with you here, it is more a descriptive piece) is that all of our happiness comes at a cost to others. Specifically, the material and superficial things that seem to bring us joy can often be traced back to beginnings of suffering.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree with Jess. Like we talked about in class, how we are happy how we are because we know there are people worse off, so we are glad we have what we have.
ReplyDeleteWhen someone is given what they want all their life they never realize how lucky they are to have such a good life. When someone who lives in the streets or has to work hard to earn what they have are truly grateful for how little the own. I think that this is the reason why people were brought to see the child. So they really knew how lucky they were to be in their position
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the others that the moral/ theme of "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" was well defined in the story. The author did this by including a quick transfer from the happy village to the visual of the boy in the cellar.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stephen that most of the characters in this piece are archetypes rather than individuated characters. Do any of the rest of you feel as though the narrator is the one true character in the vignette?
ReplyDeleteI agree that the story did a good job of defining morals
ReplyDeleteI think Lisa has a point when it comes to the narrator being the only true character because the narrator is the only one who really has a voice throughout the story.
ReplyDeleteI like what nick brought up, inspiring they were lucky to be in the situation that they were in
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other comments about the vignette's moral as well as the idea that the narrator is the one true character.
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